Carpathia

Carpathia is an extreme prog metal group featuring one of the coolest sounds that I have heard in a while. Imagine if Dream Theater and Emperor had a kid, Carpathia would happen. There mix of genres is really cool and their intelligent lyrics help to ice the cake. The guitar work is really well done and very heavy, the bass adds soul, the drums rhythm, the keyboards add an orchestral quality while the vocals add the power of Satan. The guitar work is typically relatively simple from a technical standpoint yet the overall compositions are very good. It is very interesting to hear this type of black metal guitar applied to a prog sound. The bass work is very heavy and it is a big part of what drags the band down into blackness. I especially like the bass part on the bridge of The Kingdom of Interstellar Wisdom is pretty remarkable as it really captures the essence of the song in just a few bars. The drummer of Carpathia is pretty good and while there are few crazy awesome fills the job gets done and it gets done brutally. After that we have the keyboards, they mostly add padding and symphony to the rest of the music yet there are a few moments where they shine through and claim their proper role. Finally we have the vocals which are very much in the black metal vein. The lyrics are intelligent too which is always a plus. In conclusion, Carpathia is one of the greatest black metal bands that I've heard in a while. Check them out!

http://carpathiametal.bandcamp.com/album/tearful